Twisted fate
by thatenglishchick
Summary: What if it wasn't Freya that Merlin found in the bounty hunter's cage? What if it was a different girl, a girl with very unique secrets? How could this girl affect Merlin's life.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Foretelling

Nimueh gazed at the crystal in her hands; suddenly an image appeared on its surface. It was of her attacking Camelot, she seemed to be winning, but at the last moment, she was hit with a powerful enchantment and she fell to the ground dead. Nimueh gasped, no matter how many times and ways she saw her death it was always a shock. Then the image changed, it showed her and another young woman, holding Uther and his grown up son, Arthur, at their mercy. At this Nimueh smiled, and began to laugh as the image of her spoke the words:

"Kill them Elea"

The other woman stepped forwards as her lips curled into a triumphant smirk,

"Yes mother" she replied.

Nimueh gasped and almost dropped the crystal, the shock written plainly on her face.

But again the image changed, this time she stood alone with Arthur and Uther at her mercy, but just as she was about to utter the words that would spell their doom, she heard a woman's voice.

"No" she cried, as her eyes flashed gold and the image of Nimueh was blasted into the wall behind her, effectively ending her life.

The girl, the same as in the second vision ran to Uther and hugged him, exclaiming "Father, are you alright?"

At this Nimueh did drop the crystal, it fell to the floor with a resounding crack and lay there, the images erased from its surface.

The initial shock still strong the witch sat down, and stared moodily in front of her. How could this be, she wondered, how could she and Uther share a child?

She sat there for some time before a plan began to hatch in her mind. She would disguise herself, travel to Camelot, bewitch Uther, bear his child and then leave taking the child with her. She would teach the child in the art of magic, and when she was ready she would return to Camelot and together they would destroy Uther.

Nimueh smiled cruelly at the thought of stealing the last of Uther's happiness, to make him suffer as she had suffered.

She stood up, and conjured a mirror then, using several incantations the witch disguised herself so she looked like an older version of the daughter she would one day bear.

Exactly one year from that day, on the evening of May 14th King Uther's beloved new queen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, with golden hair and a heart shaped birthmark on her neck. Thankfully, both mother and daughter were in perfect health, and the entire kingdom of Camelot celebrated the princesses' birth.

Nimueh, or Queen Margaret as she was now known, stood, looking out of the window of the room she grudgingly shared with Uther. She looked down at the sleeping child in her arms and thought happily, only a few more weeks now and the child would be strong enough to survive the journey to Avalon, and then they could leave this place

She looked up as her 'husband' entered the room, holding a sleeping, 3-year old Arthur.

"My love I was thinking of naming the child Margaret after her most beloved mother, what do you think?" said Uther lovingly, coming to stand next to his wife.

"No. The child's name is Elea" she said forcefully, and then softening her tone "If you wish it"

"Yes, it is a beautiful name. Here, my love a gift for our daughter, it was my mother's" said Uther, holding out a thin silver chain with a delicate dragon pendant hanging from it.

The first few weeks of Elea's life were happy for all in Camelot. In celebration of her birth Uther held a huge feast, and declared a national holiday for all who lived in Camelot.

However, the celebrations were short-lived, for only 7 weeks after her birth Princess Elea disappeared, and the queen was found dead in the nursery.

Nimueh, now in her natural body, laughed as she picked her sleeping daughter from the cradle. Glancing down at the dead body of the nurse the evil witch uttered a few words in the old language, and smirked in triumph as the old woman transformed into the queen Nimueh had dressed herself as.

With that she left, leaving the Kingdom and Uther to grieve for the loss of two queens and a princess.

It took Nimueh a mere second to arrive at her destination, the Lake of Avalon. There she stepped into a boat and ordered it to move into the mist.

Soon it reached the Isle of Blessed, center of the Olde Religion set in the middle of the enchanted lake. Nimueh stepped out of the boat and walked purposefully towards her castle.

Her feet created a sharp click clack on the stone pavement which wakened the angelic child in her arms.

As the castle doors banged shut behind the evil witch, the baby girl began to scream


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Escape**

**17 years later**

**Elea awoke sharply and painfully, the shackles around her wrists and ankles rubbed her skin raw. All she could feel was the pain, her throat dry from lack of water, her stomach knotted and empty, and every time she moved she could feel the numerous cuts and bruises that tattooed her skin.**

**She lifted her hands shakily to the crystal tied around her neck. It was a powerful magical device that altered her appearance. Clasping at it with two dirty hands she tried to channel its power to help her break the chains, but despite her enormous power the chains remained intact. In the back of her mind she realized dully that they must have been forged using magic. Groaning she fell back to the floor of the dirty cage and lay there, gasping for breath.**

**Not for the first time she thought of her mother and her old home. They were not fond memories, her castle, while large and richly furnished was merely a comfortable prison, and her mother was a cold-hearted, evil witch, who never visited her unless it was to teach her about dark magic, or the evils of Camelot.**

**A smile graced her lips as she remembered fonder memories of the four happy years she had spent in the druid camp, after her escape from her mother when she was 13.**

**Finally, exhausted she drifted into a troubled sleep.**

**Merlin stood still as he watched Gaius tend to the sick man**

**"Send for me if he is not better by morning" his mentor said to the man's wife. She nodded and the two left.**

**They were walking back to their home when they passed a cage which held a young girl captive. She was huddled in a corner, it was obvious that any hope of escape had left her.**

**"Gaius" said Merlin looking at the prisoner helplessly.**

**"She's fallen prey to a bounty hunter." said the older man.**

**"But she's only a girl." Merlin protested**

**"She'll still fetch a good price though." said Gaius sadly**

**"Someone's going to pay for her?"**

**"Uther offers a handsome reward for anyone with magic"**

**"There must be something we can do" said the younger man helplessly**

**"Merlin, bounty hunters are dangerous men, they are not to be meddled with, you of all people should know that" said Gaius, his voice betraying no emotion.**

**Throughout this entire conversation the girl simply sat, huddled in the corner staring with empty eyes at the two figures.**

**Merlin walked silently towards the door, checking that Gaius was still asleep. Quietly he slipped out the door and down the alleyways towards the tavern.**

**When he arrived there he opened the door and glanced in to check whether the bounty hunter was occupied. With disgust, Merlin saw that he was busy shoveling food into his foul face.**

**Slipping out the door again he crept towards the cage. Muttering a spell, the chains on the door broke apart and it swung open.**

**Moving towards the girl he said reassuringly "Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you." Muttering another spell the girl's shackles broke apart, thus freeing her.**

**Half carrying, half dragging the nearly unconscious girl Merlin led her to some underground passageways. Once they had walked nearly all the way down Merlin led the girl to a small alcove and laid her on the ground. She seemed too weak to move properly, probably from lack of food and water, but she managed to mutter something,**

**"Crystal"**

**"What?" said Merlin, obviously confused.**

**"Crystal necklace" the girl replied in a hoarse whisper.**

**Seeing what she was talking about, Merlin pulled the crystal from around the girl's neck. Once it was free of her completely the girl's appearance began to change. Her short, brown hair grew into long golden curls, her whole body stretched, changing from short and stumpy to a perfectly carved, willowy figure. She now had high, proud cheekbones, full, red lips and an adorable button nose. Her eyes had also changed, from a dull blue into the most beautiful and lively he had ever seen. They were blue green around the edges, which morphed into green the closer you came to the center, and around the pupil there was a small ring of amber. Even in this bruised and dirty state the girl's great beauty shone through.**

**Merlin, seeing the girl was dressed only in rags, took off his jacket and laid it over her. This seemed to promote her to speak as she then asked quietly,**

**"What's your name?"**

**"Merlin" the boy replied**

**"Elea"**

**At this he smiled, and said reassuringly "I'll be back tomorrow morning, I'll bring some food and water" with this he got up to leave, but just as he was disappearing from sight he heard the girl's faint voice say;**

**"Thank you Merlin."**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you to Ardent Apathy who reviewed. Also the reason she conceived Elea was because she also saw herself dying when she tried to capture Camelot on her own, and she thought that if she brought Elea up she would join her side, and otherwise there wouldn't be a story.**

For once Merlin woke up on time. he got dressed quickly and crept silently out the door, stopping only to pick up an old apple and a crust of bread for Elea. When he reached Prince Arthur's chambers he started towards the window, to open the curtains, however he stopped when he saw his breakfast. Moving swiftly over to it, he picked up the plate and emptied the food into a napkin, then he replaced them with the apple and bread and opened the window, shouting "Breakfast", then he hurriedly walked to the door and was about to leave when Arthur's voice stopped him. "Oi, where's the meat, cheese?" "That's the new breakfast menu." said Merlin, smiling cheerfully. "That's not enough." "We have got to keep you shape." was the earnest answer "I'm fighting fit" said Arthur indignantly. "Yes, but we want to keep you that way" replied Merlin. "Merlin!" shouted Arthur, throwing the apple at him "Do you have somewhere to be" "No" "Good because I have some chores for you to do" said Arthur, causing Merlin to pull a face.* One very tiring hour later Merlin walked cautiously down to the passageway where Elea was hiding. She was fast asleep when he arrived, her long hair spread all over the place, Merlin mobed to brush some of it out of her face, but this startled her awake. Gasping, she awoke backing into a corner before seeing who it was that woke her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." said Merlin holding out his hands "Here, I've brought you some stuff." Elea snatched the jug of water from his hands and poured about half of it down her parched throat. "Thanks." she said as she made a grab for the food. Merlin smiled, and took some candles out of his pocket, he placed them on the ground and muttered the word "forburn", instantly they lit, lighting the dim alcove. Merlin watched as the girl ate, he noticed the small tattoo on her upper forearm "Is that a druid symbol" he asked Elea looked down at the tattoo on her arm, it was her mother's mark, not a druid symbol but she replied "Yes" anyway. Then as if eager to change the subject she said "does anyone else know about your magic?" "Just you, and one other man, he knows but I'm not sure he understands" Elea nodded and said softly "I know the feeling, I wish I was like everyone else..." "But you always know deep down your not" Elea nodded "I've had magic ever since I can remember. I was never allowed to see anyone in case I would slip up." Then, as if she had said too much she again changed the subject "Where do you come from?" "Ealdor," he replied "it's a small village just across the border in Cenred's kingdom. What about you?" Elea sighed and then, as if she was taking a grest risk said. " The isle of the blessed, in the lake of Avalon. My mother took me there when I waa born." "Who was your mother?" asked Merlin curiously. "A very powerful sorceress." said Elea, plainly not wanting to say anything else. After a few seconds awkward silence Merlin said "I should be going, people will notice my absence, but I'll be back later, with more food."


End file.
